It has been over 20 plus years now since Steven Spielberg found new ways of involving and engaging his audience without underscoring every moment with tear inducement; that is to say, tearjerking them by manipulation. It is obvious in "E.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial" which might be his first major genuine tearjerker where the tears flow thanks to his astute direction and John Williams' sonic, overpowering score. Yet such manipulation never felt like I was being jerked around (the sole exception is the overstuffed, heavily maudlin "Hook"). "The Fabelmans" is Spielberg's own personal take on his childhood, the dreamer who saw a world of movies below his feet yet it is no tearjerker. "Fabelmans" is Spielberg at his most restrained with a far more reflexive bone in its narrative body - a way of looking in without feeling like you need to be jerked around. It can be frustrating but it is never less than compelling.
Cecil B. De Mille's "The Greatest Show on Earth" was the young Sammy Fabelman's kid first cinematic attraction and what astounded him was the horrific train collision in that film. This is a different kind of manipulation - jerking us around with action-filled, dramatic scenes. This kid wants to make his newly acquired electric train set to endure the same chaotic crash as seen in the film and the mother, Mitzi (Michelle Williams), wants to film it. It is filmed once, twice, all with different angles. Sammy Fabelman has learned the tools of the trade and the most principle one - an editing strategy. Later on, there are other events that certainly mirror Spielberg's cinematic epics such as a tornado that leads to a scene where a few shopping carts ride by the street in unison - an echo there of Spielberg's remake of "War of the Worlds." Only Sammy is not capturing these moments with a camera, only with his own amazed eyes (and seen from his mother's point of view). There are many moments in Sammy's life that are not captured with an 8mm camera or a 16mm Bolex camera or whatever he can get ahold of. Young Sammy is often witnessing life through his own lens.
The Fabelmans move from Arizona to California with the quirky, depressed Mitzi wishing her best friend could be with them, referred to as "Uncle" Benny (Seth Rogen, who has never been more lovable on screen). The Fabelman Father (Paul Dano) is on a career path as a computer engineer who goes where the money is, regardless of what the family wants. Mitzi loses control of herself, unable to get out of bed or cook or shop for the family (in all fairness, Mitzi can't wash dishes either because of her piano-playing hands which is why they all eat with paper plates). She misses Benny yet no one is aware of her attraction to him until Sammy discovers the truth through the filmed excerpts of the family's last camping trip. This creates discord between Sammy and Mitzi, and eventually causes the breakdown of the family. In other words, we are seeing the themes of an absent dad and an impending divorce as we often saw in Spielberg's own films (Footnote: it wasn't revealed until very recently that his dad was not the reason for the actual divorce, the mother wanted out and we also see how that plays out here as well).
"The Fabelmans" is not a typical coming-of-age movie but rather a coming-of-age-and-understanding-of-the-family-unit kind of movie. Not that we have not seen the parental discord leading to divorce drama before but this is Spielberg's firsthand account of it, and a lot of times it felt more raw than sentimental, more nakedly emotional and understated than manipulative. The scenes of a seeming familial bliss and the emotional turmoil that follows are nothing new either but they are adapted very strongly (Sammy's sisters get their scenes in there as well). Michelle Williams is something of a revelation as Mitzy, a woman fighting her depression for wanting to be with the man she loves yet still maintaining her love for her children (don't be shocked if she wins Best Actress Oscar). Paul Dano is more straight-arrow than I've ever seen before and does a commendable job as the busy father, Burt, who doesn't approve of his son's filmmaking skills as anything other than a hobby. I also found Gabriel LaBelle quite appealing and honest as our future popular film director who stands up for himself and sees a future in filmmaking, especially in knowing how his audience of friends and family react to them. The scene where he convinces his dad that the passion for the work they do is similar is exemplary. Even more gratifying is a powerful cameo by Judd Hirsch as an actual uncle who warns Sammy that art will supersede family, it always does ("You love this more.")
Still, something nagged me about "The Fabelmans" - it left me feeling a little cold despite how absorbed I was by it. The movie is Spielberg's most confined, most closed-off film in terms of emotions and perhaps I was not expecting that from the Spielman. The emotions are apparent yet they are far-reaching - you kind of have to reach from within yourself to grasp what is at stake with the Fabelmans. In many ways, this is Spielberg aiming more for the reserved, cooly depicted emotions of John Cassavetes (the astounding image of Mitzi in front of a car's headlights as she dances to her heart's content reminded of Gena Rowlands, Cassavetes' wife). That is not to say I was not moved by the film but I still felt at a bit of a remove from it - it is more moving in reflection than while you are watching it. Spielberg has been more reserved with emotional climaxes for the last twenty years or so, finding restraint to be his mantra. It is a film of measured resonance and we never quite feel the flight of fancy of Sammy's triumph of spirit over making movies as his camera slowly becomes the observer and not just a spectacle imagemaker - he feels joy only towards the end after meeting the eyepatch-wearing director of westerns, John Ford. Is Spielberg suggesting that he felt no exultation from his early filmmaking days? Still, I came away with a better understanding of Spielberg's loving family unit than his filmmaking obsession. Maybe Spielberg is suggesting that he was not as obsessed over the art form as he was over his mother's happiness and finding it was all too difficult since he couldn't comprehend complex adult emotions. The last scene between mother and son is not captured with Sammy's film camera (he does show her the film of her private moments with Benny early on) but instead Spielberg's - as I stated earlier, Sammy is not filming every moment of his life. Maybe it is Spielberg's attempt at understanding himself. I just came away with a better understanding of his mother.
